No immediate threat seen to ruling coalition Two ministers fired n No immediate threat seen to ruling coalition ISLAMABAD: An Islamic party said Tuesday it was pulling out of Pakistan's ruling coalition after the dismissal of one of its members as a minister, but the government was not expected to fall. “It is impossible to stay in the coalition. We are saying goodbye to the government” Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) leader Fazal-ur-Rehman told reporters after a party meeting. The decision was taken after Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani sacked two ministers including one from JUI, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, the minister for science and technology, for publicly trading accusations of corruption in a scandal involving Pakistani pilgrims' accommodation in Makkah. Gilani also fired Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi, a member of his own main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP). The scandal reportedly implicated Kazmi's ministry in graft while booking accommodation for around 80,000 pilgrims during the Haj. While the government is highly unlikely to collapse – the JUI is a small coalition partner – the move will raise fresh questions over the country's political stability. The governing coalition, which faces an array of challenges including militancy and a fragile economy, now holds 181 out of 342 seats in parliament, nine more than the 172 needed to maintain its majority. Rehman said two other JUI members of the cabinet – the ministers of tourism and housing – from his party would also resign. Fauzia Wahab, spokeswoman for the ruling PPP, said the government would attempt to persuade the JUI to reverse its decision. “In politics, you have such ups and downs. But Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman is an old friend of ours and we hope to win back his support.” Gilani's government, struggling to implement reforms needed to secure the sixth tranche of a $11 billion International Monetary Fund loan keeping the economy afloat, could now be distracted by political turbulence. “The government will find it difficult to sustain itself unless it maneuvers to find new partner,” said renowned political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi. “And it will be a difficult task in this situation.”
